Single Dad's
by eagle9966
Summary: Au modern ZoSan Zoro is a poor and single father to a 17 year old Usopp, and Sanji is a single, but well off father to a 7 year old Chopper, and is trying to move on from his past, will a dinner between the two strangers start to turn the tide in both their favors?. Romance with a fun family twist (no incest). reviews will be appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Single Dad's

(Knock knock)

"Coming, just give me a second" Sanji placed the tray of brownies onto a cooling rack, which sat on the island in the kitchen. He took off his oven mitts and put them by the tray and headed to the door

As he was walking through the decently sized house he caught sight of a clock hanging on the wall '3:10? He shouldn't be here yet'

"Hello? Nami-san" Sanji said opening the door

"Nice place, I was a little confused when you said you had moved, glad It was to somewhere nice" Nami said looking around with unkind eyes

"So is he in the car?" Sanji asked trying to be polite

"Yeah, I picked him up after school and drove straight here, mind if I come in?"

Sanji moved to let her in "Of course, make yourself at home, I'll go get him"

Sanji waited until she was well inside the threshold before moving to the car, quickly spying the messy brown locks of hair barely over the window in the car

"Daddy!"

"Hey Chopper!" Sanji opened the door, and was jumped on by his son "You been a good boy for mom?"

"Yes, we even played a whole bunch, although she made me do homework first" Chopper said with a pout

Sanji gave a light hearted laugh "You know the rules though" he said while grabbing the kid's school bag

While they were walking towards the house Chopper stuck his nose in the air and started sniffing "What's that smell? Oh it smells good! What did you make daddy? What did you make?"

Sanji laughed again as they entered the two bedroom house "I made some brownies for you"

Choppers eyes went comically wide "Can I have some now?" Chopper asked bouncing up and down

Sanji saw Nami eyeing him from the living room, and got slightly irritated, but didn't let it show "Well what have you eaten today?"

Chopper looked at his shoes while thinking "Oh I ate some carrots, and had some apple juice! And also had a sandwich with all the things you told me to put on it"

Sanji kneeled down and patted his head "Okay then you can have some, there in the kitchen, but there hot so be careful, and use a napkin"

"Yay!" Chopper shouted in excitement and ran towards the kitchen

"Not too many either, save some for later!" Sanji called after him, and then walked to the living room "Want something to drink?" he asked trying to be polite

"Don't give him to many sweets, I don't want him to get sick" Nami responded as she stood "Although I do feel more comfortable now that you're not in a shit house raising him"

Sanji bit his tongue almost to the point of it bleeding trying not to bite back "I am capable of raising my son" He said in a low voice

Nami scowled at him "Of course you are, that's why it took you two years just to get joint custody right?"

Sanji scowled right back and raised his voice so that Chopper could hear "Buddy come say by to mom, she's leaving"

Nami threw on an evil smirk, knowing she struck a nerve with her ex-husband then went to meet her son half way and gave him a big hug and then left, closing the door behind her as she left, maybe a little too harshly.

"What were you guys talking about?" Chopper asked using a napkin to wipe the smeared chocolate off of the area surrounding his mouth

"Nothing much, just catching up, so it's Friday, want do you want to do for dinner? Maybe head out and go see grandpa Zeff?"

"Yeah!" Chopper shouted excitedly "But mom said he's a bad man… so I don't know if I should go"

"Oh Tony, he isn't a bad guy, he and mom just don't get along, it happens with adults, but I know he likes you a lot, I'm sure he'd be happy to see you!"

"Okay let's go!" Chopper shouted again

"Okay, we'll leave at six, so we have a few hours, so how about we get your homework done and maybe play?"

"Yay!" Chopper shouted again making Sanji smile brightly, it had been a while since Zeff got to see Chopper

…

Usopp opened the front door to a small two bedroom apartment on the third floor of the apartment building and closed it behind him "Hey dad, I'm back, got my grades"

"Oh? Let's have a look then shall we?" Zoro said coming towards him with a playful smile on and took the offered paper and opened it up

"Okay let's see, f, f, f, f,"

Usopp rolled his eyes "Dad"

Zoro smirked "Straight A's, very nice" Zoro patted Usopp on the back "Say let's celebrate, let's go out to dinner, you like seafood right, I heard of this great place called the Baratie, best seafood in the city"

Usopp shrugged nervously "Do we have the money for that, I thought things were tight since they raised our rent"

Zoro smiled at the teen "Hey, neither heaven nor hell could stop me from showing that I'm proud of my son, plus I just got word from Robin, I got the job at her firm so we are alright"

Usopp looked a little sad "I hate that you have to work two jobs, I mean I could get a job, I am 17. I'm sure there's something I could do to get some money"

Zoro's smile fell a little "Nah, don't worry about it, they don't take much energy, plus, you got to focus on school if you want to get into that art college you've been talking about, 6:30 sound okay?"

Usopp smiled "Yeah sounds good, thanks dad"

"Not a problem, so want to kill some aliens on the Xbox with me?"

"Sure! Let me just go put my stuff away"

Zoro went and sat down on the couch and grabbed the controller "Want to play on competitive mode?"

Usopp emerged from his room and tied a bandana around his head to push his hair back "You sure you want to do that, I don't want to beat you so bad that you don't take me out to dinner"

Zoro gave a playful glare to his son "Just grab a controller and prepare to eat your words brat"

"Haha, we'll see"

…

"Hey Patty, is Zeff there? Yeah it's Sanji, Okay thanks"

Sanji smiled at Chopper who was looking up at him "Just telling grandpa were going to eat at his restaurant tonight, that way they know to make sure there's ice cream"

Chopper smiled and did a little happy dance with some toy action figures in his hands, and Sanji put the phone back to his ear

"Hey old man… yeah…yeah, so listen, I was thinking about bringing your grandson by around 6, thought he might like to see his grandpa…well you are old so deal with it… hahaha, ok see you then, bye" Sanji took his phone away from his ear and put it back on his hanger "Okay buddy, let's get ready and go"

"Okay" Chopper said excitedly and put down his toys

…

"Ack" Zoro set his controller down, having died again "cheater"

"It isn't cheating, it's called a sense of direction" Usopp laughed back still immersed in the game

Zoro used this moment to look at his watch "Oh shit, we are going to be late" he said standing up

Usopp turned the console off and leaned his head over the couch to look at his dad "So how did you get us a reservation at a five star restaurant anyways?"

Zoro turned from where he was putting on a tie (unsuccessfully) and smirked at Usopp "Magic, now go put on a button up and some slacks, it isn't a black tie place but that doesn't mean it's casual friendly"

"Okay" Usopp said walking into his room "But I'm just saying, you just made the plan today, and that phone call you made during our break didn't last that long, I'm just wondering how you did it" he called from his bedroom

"Well, you remember your aunt Kuina right?" Zoro asked while tying his shoes

"Yeah?"

"Well I got her to pull some strings, turns out she's tight with the owner or something"

"Ah, I see, she strikes again" Usopp said walking out of his room pulling his hair into a ponytail, he was now dressed in a smooth black button up with the sleeves rolled up and matching slacks

"Hehe, yeah, she's good at that, okay ready to go?"

Usopp nodded moving a few bracelets around on his wrist "Yeah"

"Cool let's get going then" Zoro said grabbing his keys

…

"There's egg plant and eggplant Jr. come here you little rascal" Zeff bellowed throughout the restaurant half walking half hobbling on his peg leg towards them and hugged Chopper "God you're so big now! You know who I am right?"

Chopper nodded excitedly "Yeah, I didn't forget"

Zeff smiled "Good, I'm glad, hey so, Patty will show you to your seat, then I'll bring out a bowl of some homemade chocolate ice cream, sound good?"

"Yeah!" Chopper said enthused at the thought

Sanji chose this moment to bring a closed hand to his mouth and 'cough'

Zeff looked up at him then back to Chopper "Right sorry, got to eat dinner first, but then I'll give you the ice cream"

"Oh okay" Chopper said a little sad

"But hey, it tastes even better when you have to wait for it" Zeff said trying to cheer him up

"Yummy, okay I'll wait!" Chopper said happy again causing Zeff and Sanji to laugh, both of them aware that most of the customers were staring at them

"Okay well, go to Patty, Chopper, he'll show you your seat" Zeff mentioned

"Okay grandpa" Chopper said then trotted off to Patty oh grabbed him up in his arms and hugged him and began walking towards a booth. Sanji watched in amusement at the scene, it really had been to long

"Everything going okay lately?" Zeff asked getting serious

Sanji turned to face his dad "Yeah, I'm all moved into the new house. I no longer have a connection to anybody from that chapter in my life, and my restaurant is going good."

"You're still using that alias right, blackleg, instead of redfoot"

"Yeah" Sanji replied, remembering how he had to switch his and Choppers name

"Your ex-wife still giving you grief?"

Sanji sighed "Yeah a bit, she tried to imply I wasn't fit to be a dad"

"Well you weren't, you had fucked up pretty bad, but don't you listen to that kind of bullshit anymore, you're a good person now and a great father, so she can shove it" Zeff replied angrily

Sanji smiled "Thanks dad, I think I needed that"

"Okay, now enough of this sappy shit, go have dinner with your son, but fair warning, the kitchen staff might come out and visit throughout the night, they missed the little guy"

Sanji smirked "alright, fair enough"

…

"Yes, party of two, under Roronoa" Zoro said to the receptionist

"Yeah okay, got you right here, go ahead on in, just find a empty table, nobody pays attention to that sort of thing really, plus we are short on waiters tonight" She said in a kind voice

"Thanks" Zoro said passing her, Usopp bowing his head politely as he passed

"Wow, five star restaurant where you get to pick your seat, cool" Usopp said when they were a fair distance away from the receptionist

"Yeah, it is a little bizarre, hey there's a table" Zoro said pointing and started walking off in its direction

"Usopp!?" Usopp turned to face the loud voice that called him, he scanned the tables trying to locate where the familiar voice came from, and then spotted it

"Hey Chopper!" Usopp waved back

Zoro turned and followed his son over to another table "so whose this little guy?" Zoro asked with a smile on his face looking at 'Chopper'

"Oh you remember when I volunteered at the elementary school for a few weeks to help out with their art program, well this was one of the students there, Chopper meet my dad Zoro, Zoro meet my student Chopper"

"Hey" Zoro said holding out his hand

"Hi" Chopper said a little nervous, but none the less shook Zoro's hand

"Hey Chopper, um who's this?" Sanji asked approaching his son protectively

"Oh Daddy, this was one of my teachers at school and his dad"

"Well, temporary teacher, I just helped out" Usopp said laughing a little "Hi, I'm Usopp" He said holding out his hand

Sanji took his hand "and I didn't catch your name" Sanji said holding his hand out to Zoro

"I'm Zoro, Usopp's father" he said taking the hand "Nice to meet you"

"You too" Sanji said to both of them "now that I think about it, I think I remember Chopper talking about you" Sanji said talking to Usopp "He had a lot of fun with your art class

Usopp smiled "Yeah, we were real buds, I like teaching him all the cool things you could do with clay and paint and so on"

"Hey Usopp, want to have dinner with us? Please?!" Chopper asked

"Oh I'm not sure if I could, I mean" Usopp started looking at Sanji

"Well I don't mind" Sanji said sitting on the opposite side of Chopper

Usopp looked at Zoro, who shrugged

"Sure I don't mind, they seem like nice folk, plus the kid really wants to catch up with you" Zoro said

"Yay" Chopper shouted

"Chopper, remember you can't be too loud" Sanji said, making room for Zoro to sit down

"Oh right sorry" Chopper said, then made room for Usopp

They quickly sat down, and the two youngest were quickly immersed into a conversation about something or another

Zoro turned to Sanji "Sorry if were intruding on your night out with your son"

"Oh it's not a problem" Sanji assured "Chopper really liked him as a teacher and friend so I don't mind if they catch up with each other"

They remained silent for awhile watching their sons chatter on about what sounded like action figures and videogames

"I'm surprised that your son gets along with a little kid so well" there was second of silence before Sanji thought the statement over in his head "sorry that sounded rude, I didn't mean it like that" Sanji said

"Nah I understand what you meant, most boys his age are all about girls, cars and what not, but he has always been a little kid person"

"So how old is he?" Sanji asked, glad that he didn't offend Zoro

"17, turning 18 in a few months"

"Oh wow, almost an adult huh, what's that like?"

"Well, a little jarring at first, but you get used to it, what about your little boy? How old is he?"

"Oh, he's only 7… I don't have to worry about him growing up quite yet"

They both laughed a little

"So, where's the kid's mom tonight? At home or something, letting you guys have your fun?" Zoro asked trying to make some conversation

"Oh, um" Sanji coughed a little "We are no longer together, and starting today, is my 7 days with him, we switch weekly"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that" Zoro said "Didn't mean to ruin the mood"

"hehe, don't worry, she already did when she dropped him off today"

Zoro smiled a little

"So what about his mom" Sanji asked out, hoping to learn a little more about the kid

"Well, the last time either of us saw her was when she dropped him off two weeks after he was born, she was a old girlfriend, it turns out that she was pregnant when we broke up, I had no idea, and 10 months later she comes by and gives me a kid then just leaves"

Sanji looked down "Damn, sorry I didn't mean to…" Sanji let the sentence die there

"No its fine, I did it to you, now were even"

Sanji pondered that for a little while before thinking of a way to improve the mood, hopefully "So why doesn't he have moss growing out of his head?"

Zoro looked at Sanji who was smiling at him and smirked "Well why doesn't Chopper have dart boards over his eyes?"

They both laughed again, and then all four turned to the end of the table when they heard a man clear his throat "Here are your menus"

"Thank you Zeff" Zoro said making Sanji arch his eyebrow in curiosity

"Um how do you know Zeff" Sanji wondered out loud

"Oh you didn't know? This is Kuina's little brother" Zeff answered "I thought you knew, which raises a question, why are you sitting with them if you don't even know them?" Zeff asked raising his eyebrow

"Chopper knows Zoro's Son Usopp" Sanji pointed out and Usopp looked a little nervous under Zeff's stare

"Wait, how do you know Zeff?" Zoro asked Sanji

"He's my son" Zeff answered making Zoro pale and frantically look back and forth between the two of them "Oh" he said and stopped looking back and forth

"How do you know this guy Chopper?" Zeff asked pointing his thumb to Usopp

"He was my art teacher at school for a little while, and he was my friend!" Chopper said happily

"Hi" Usopp said nervously holding out his hand towards Zeff

For a few moments Usopp just boiled under Zeff's gaze, until finally Zeff shook his hand "Any friend of Chopper's is a friend of mine" he said laughing "Okay well, I'll be back in a few minutes to take your orders, have a good one" Zeff chuckled out walking away.

The table was quiet for a little while, all of them looking back and forth between each other

"Well I guess you learn something new every day" Usopp said cautiously

Zoro and Sanji looked at each other for a few seconds before shrugging it off "Yup" they both said and then started looking through the menus

…

"No way!" Usopp said trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard

"Oh yeah, so Zeff comes walking over into the small kitchen in our house and just yells 'what the hell did you do eggplant!" Sanji says laughing also

"hahaha, and so what did you tell him?" Zoro asked also laughing

"Well the evidence was right there so I was honest and told the truth, that a magic fire fairy came and burned the food" Sanji said and everybody laughed hard at that "Oh man, he made me eat every piece of that burnt bread, but I never brunt another loaf or anything else ever again" Sanji said wiping a tear from his eye

"Man" Usopp said patting his belly "Your dad knows how to cook"

"Ah, his food's okay I guess, I can cook better" Sanji said bragging

Suddenly two arms reached from behind Sanji's head and place a bowl of ice cream in front of Chopper and Usopp. Sanji instantly paled feeling the presence

"Could you repeat that egg plant?" Zeff asked hovering over Sanji as Chopper and Usopp shouted in joy at the ice cream

"uh oh" Zoro said scooting away from Sanji a little

"Well I could cook better, you shitty old man" Sanji said knowing he was dead already

"You ungrateful little brat!" Zeff yelled bringing his peg leg down onto Sanji's head

"Ow!" Sanji yelled out cupping his head and leaning forward "Ow ow ow, you shitty old man" Sanji said as Zeff was walking away

"Hahahahaha!" Zoro laughed out "I love this place, it isn't all up tight like most fancy restaurants, and I even got to see the owner kick his son hahahaha"

"Oi shut it marimo!" Sanji barked back, and began tapping his fingers on the table

Zoro took notice of the tapping and looked at the kids who were eating the ice cream, and enjoying every bite, Zoro leaned over to Sanji almost whispering "Need a smoke?"

Sanji nodded a little. Zoro nodded back

"Hey Usopp, can you watch Chopper? Me and sanji are gonna go get some fresh air" Zoro asked

Usopp looked at him and nodded "suhre nho probmum" He said around a mouth full of ice cream

"Cool" Zoro then got up and walked towards the front door, with Sanji following him

They exited the restaurant and Sanji quickly pulled a pack of cigarettes and lit one up and inhaled deeply "Mhh, want one?" he asked offering them to Zoro

Zoro waved him off "Nah, I quit a long time ago, couldn't afford it, I don't want to start again"

Sanji nodded in understanding "Yeah, I tried to quit a few times, but since I started so young I never could shake it, it's like smoking is just part of my being"

Zoro nodded, rubbing his hands and blowing into them "you know I used to be able to make squares with the smoke before I quit"

Sanji looked at him "Yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Could you do this?" Sanji asked then inhaled, and then exhaled, moving his mouth so that the smoke made a heart

"Nice" Zoro said nodding "Oh damn, let me have one, just one won't hurt"

Sanji handed one over "If you say so, be carefully" He said while lighting it

"Yeah that's not ironic, telling me to be careful while lighting it"

"Shut up, I'm just being nice" Sanji replied

Zoro inhaled then looked at Sanji and blew out a big ring, and then a smaller ring a little faster than the first, and then a smaller third ring, and then blew the last of the smoke up towards the fading rings, in a straight line, that went through the middle of the smallest ring

"nice" Sanji replied inhaling, he then exhaled moving his lips in a pattern making the smoke look like a regular leaf

"Show off" Zoro smirked out

"Like you weren't" Sanji replied

"Fair enough, oh I got one" Zoro said inhaling again, and then exhaling downwards and moving his head back slightly, making a smoke train that moved like a snake, until he stopped inhaling, and then it just floated

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Sanji asked surprised at the skill

"Optical illusion, the trick is to keep you head moving and you have to keep exhaling"

"You know, I've been smoking forever, and never thought to do that" Sanji said laughing slightly

"Yeah, well, when I did smoke, all I did was try to figure out cool things to do with the smoke, figured it'd be a good way to impressed people at bars, then take them home and, well, kick them out the next morning, you know, it's kind of funny, It's like getting Usopp set my life on the right path, instead of just going to a bar every night" Zoro smiled as he remembered holding the baby Usopp in his hands, missing the sad look that passed onto Sanji's face, before it left again

"Wish it would have been that way for me" Sanji said out, not meaning to

"What?" Zoro asked turning to Sanji

"I'll tell you some other time; I think we should get back to the kids"

"Right" Zoro nodded and put out his cigarette on the ground

…

"And that's how you get the really nice deep purple"

Sanji and Zoro came back to the table to find that Usopp and Chopper had finished their ice cream and were now talking about, what seemed like painting; they had just sat down when Zeff walked over

"Here is the check eggplant's" Zeff said placing it down in front of Sanji and Zoro, and then turned and left

Zoro grabbed the check and opened it and looked at the number "Well, I can get half, here" Zoro said setting the check down and pulling out his wallet "There's 62.35, that's half right? He asked turning to Sanji

"Um yeah, plus a good tip" He nodded setting down the other half

"Okay, well shall we get going then Usopp?" Zoro asked turning to his son

"Um yeah sure, see you later Chopper"

"Yeah okay" Chopper said a little sad

"Hey Zoro" Sanji said causing Zoro to turn around

"Yeah?"

"Here's my cell phone number, just give me a call when Usopp's wants' to hang out with Chopper" Sanji said handing him a piece of paper

Zoro quickly took out a pen and ripped part of the paper off and wrote down something "I don't have a cell phone, but here's my home phone, just tell Chopper to call" Zoro handed the paper to Sanji and then turned to leave

"See you soon marimo!" Sanji called after him

"Same dart brow" Zoro said back "Nice to meet you"

"Bye Usopp!" Chopper called

"Bye Chopper!" Usopp called back

…

Zoro walked through the door after Usopp and locked it behind him "Well that was fun" Zoro said "Have fun with Chopper?"

"Yeah, tons, he's a fun little kid"

"Do you want to hang out with him soon; maybe you could babysit for Sanji or something"

Usopp smiled "ahh, now I see"

Zoro gave a look of confusion "What?"

"Someone's got a crush" Usopp sang as he walked towards his room, causing his dad to flush

"Shut it you brat!" Zoro yelled in embarrassment and then went to sit on the couch, and saw that there was a new message on his machine, he quickly went over to it and hit the play button

_"Hey Usopp, it's Kaya, just wanted to make sure we were still on for Saturday, so, give me a call back, chow"_

"Hey Usopp, Who's Kaya?" He called in a mocking tone

Usopp quickly rushed out of his room and stared at his dad "How do you know that name?" he asked in worry and embarrassment

Zoro laid back on the couch and kicked his feet up onto the table "she sounds cute, even through the messaging machine"

Usopp quickly went to the machine and pressed play, and listened to the message before picking up the phone and going to his room

Zoro clicked the T.V. on and began watching whatever showed it had turned onto 'Kid got's a girl, oh this will be fun, so much fun' Zoro thought and then began thinking of a few embarrassing stories from Usopp's childhood.

TBC

A/N: Okay guys, so just doing a action story focused on no romantic things was getting hard to write for and my mind began getting clouded with romance, so I created this to filter it out, I hope you guys like it!


	2. Chapter 2

Overworked, and Over Done

Zoro walked into his apartment at 11pm, exhausted from his two jobs, and all but fell onto the couch "I'm home" he said into the house, not sure if Usopp was home.

"Hey Dad, how was your day?" Usopp asked coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in one hand and a spoon in the other

"I hate being customer support, but on the bright side, my new job at Robin's firm is nice and lax, I just run errands for her" Zoro said seating up and taking his shoes off "What about yours? How did your date go?"

Usopp sat down on the couch and set his bowl on the table "Pretty well, we had a picnic, cause neither of us had money for dinner and a movie, oh I took the leftovers from the baratie, hope you don't mind"

Zoro smiled "Of course not, did she like it?"

Usopp nodded "Yeah she loved it, she brought a homemade apple pie, it was good, I took a slice home if you want it"

Zoro shook his head "No it's yours, any more milk?"

"Yeah, still half a liter left" Usopp replied eating his evening snack

"Awesome, oh hey, can you do the grocery shopping tomorrow?" Zoro asked pulling out his wallet

"Sure, do we have a list somewhere?" Usopp asked as Zoro handed him some money

"I'll make one before I go to bed, but for now, I'm going to get my own bowl of cereal" Zoro said standing up and going to the kitchen

"Cool, I'll get it down, Oh by the way, I would really like to fix my bike up when we have money for it, something in the motor is bad" Usopp called from the couch

Zoro put his spoon in the bowl and picked it up "Did you talk to Franky about it?"

"Yeah, he said that he'll need about 200 to fix it up"

"Damn, that poor bike" Zoro said back sitting down at the couch again "I might have the money next pay check"

"Awesome, thanks"

Zoro smiled "No proplem, so when do I get to meet Kaya?"

"We are barely dating, give her some time" Usopp said laughing "I don't want her to meet such a-"

"Such a what?" Zoro asked with a sly smile on his face

Usopp adverted his eyes nervously before he could speak "Powerful personality" he said out after a short silence

"Hahahaha, I see, so when you going to meet her dad?"

"Dude, it was the first date, be cool" Usopp mocked "Alright, well I'm going to go to bed, night dad"

"Night" Zoro responded, then went to the kitchen table and grabbed a pen and paper "What do we need" Zoro thought about Usopp motorbike and the money needed 'no more beer' Zoro decreed to himself

…

"Dad, dad, dad!" Chopper said while jumping on Sanji's bed

Sanji opened his eyes briefly before shutting them, throwing one hand over his eyes "Hey buddy, what's up?" he said tiredly

"It's Sunday, you said you'd take me shopping today so you could show me how to make a stew!"

Sanji tried to smile, but only yawned "What time is it?"

"Umm, 6am" Chopper said and he stopped his jumping

Sanji groaned "Alright, alright, let me wake up and take a shower, then I'll make us some breakfast and we'll go"

"Yay!" Chopper said loudly and jumped off the bed

…

"Ok, so for a simple stew, all you need is some meat, carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes." Sanji said while pushing the shopping cart "And then some bay leafs for flavor, but you don't eat those, you take them out before eating" Sanji looked at Chopper who was walking beside him and smiled

"Okay!" Chopper said beaming with happiness

Suddenly Sanji's phone rang

"Oh, let me get that, hey, go pick out some good carrots and not to fatty meat"

Chopper curtly nodded with a smile on his face and trotted off towards the meat section, within Sanji's line of view. Sanji looked at the phone recognizing the number and flipped it open

"Hello, Camie?"

_"Hey mister Blackleg, I'm calling because I can't babysit Chopper on Monday or Tuesday"_

"Oh, okay well thank you for calling, what about the rest of the week?"

_"Yeah the rest of the week is good, but I have a family event on those days."_

"Okay, thank you for calling, bye"

_"Bye"_

With that Sanji hung up the phone, and pushed the cart towards Chopper

"Hey daddy, how does this look?"

Sanji knelt down and examined the meat "Mh, good, but see this right here, that's a little too much fat, and , if you look at the curve right here, you can tell that they put the fatty side down" Sanji looked at the other choices and grabbed one "Here you want one like this, see the curve, no fat there so you know at least most of it is good"

Chopper listened intently, paying close attention to the details "okay, what about my carrots?" Chopper asked holding up a bag of carrots

"Let me see them" Sanji took the bag and looked over them flipping the bag over and looking at them "Perfect, well done!" Sanji said and shook his hand on Choppers head "Now let's go get some potatoes"

"Okay!" Chopper said smiling

They started walking down to where the potatoes where when they stopped to look at some strawberries

"Do you want some Chopper? They look pretty good"

"They do look good!" Chopper said almost drooling

"Let's see, beef, beef, where is it?"

Sanji looked up to find the familiar voice, and saw Usopp walking behind them heading towards the meats "Hey, Chopper, isn't that Usopp" Sanji pointed to the long nosed man pushing a nearly empty cart

"Oh hey it is, can we go say hi?" Chopper asked looking towards Usopp

Sanji quickly pick up some of the berries and turned the cart back towards the meat section "Sure come on"

"Beef, beef, beef, oh here we go" Usopp picked up the package of beef that Chopper had first picked up

"Hey Usopp!" Chopper said when they were close enough that he didn't have to shout

Usopp jumped a little then looked at Chopper and Sanji "Oh hey guys, you scared me, so what brings you guys around?"

"Were going to cook a stew, daddy's going to teach me!" Chopper said excited

Usopp knelt down towards Chopper "whoa, you're already learning how to cook? That's so cool!"

"Hehehe, yeah I'm really excited!" Chopper danced excitedly

"I bet, I didn't learn how to cook until I was ten! You must be really smart!" Usopp said patted his head before standing back up

"Shut up your compliments don't make me happy!" Chopper said full of glee while doing a happy dance

Sanji and Usopp both chuckled at the youngest ones antics

"You know, that meat is gonna be really fatty" Sanji mentioned as he looked at the package

Usopp grabbed it and looked at it "Really, it doesn't look like it has much fat on it"

Sanji moved to look at it and pointed out the curve "They packaged it fat side down" Sanji scanned the meat again and picked up one that didn't have much fat "Here, this one would be better"

Usopp gratefully took it, putting the other one back "Thanks, I owe you one"

Sanji smiled "not a problem, oh hey, I actually have a favor to ask, I know we don't really know each other, but the person I had to babysit Chopper can't make it Monday and Tuesday, any chance you're free? I can pay"

Usopp thought about the week "Sure I'd be happy to, well I have school tell 2:30, but after that I'm free"

Sanji gave a sigh of relief "Great, he gets off of school at 3, could you pick him up?"

Usopp nodded "Yeah, I know where the school is, I could walk there after my classes are done"

"What's going on?" Chopper asked confused

"Oh, Monday and Tuesday, Usopp is going to hang out with you while I work" Sanji redirected his attention to Usopp "thanks you're a life saver, I'll call your house with my address later, and I'll leave a key under the mat"

"Alright"

"I get to hang out with Usopp, yay!" Chopper said merrily

"So how long would I have to watch him for?" Usopp questioned

"Oh not too long, I get off work at 7 so I'd be home around 7:15" Sanji responded "I'll pay you 10 bucks an hour"

Usopp smiled "Sweet, 10 bucks an hour to hang with this little dude sounds great"

"Cool, oh, your dad won't mind right?" Sanji asked as an after thought

Usopp showed a thoughtful smile "Yeah, I'm sure he won't mind, I'll talk to him tonight to make sure"

"Okay, call me if you can't though"

"Yeah, of course" Usopp responded

"You still got my number right?"

"Yeah" Usopp responded reassuringly

"Great" Sanji nodded "Alright buddy, let's go get the rest of the stuff for the stew"

"Okay, bye Usopp!" Chopper said waving at him

"Bye little buddy, and bye, mister-"

"Blackleg" Sanji answered

Usopp nodded "Mister Blackleg, alright well see ya tomorrow"

…

Zoro walked into Robin's office and looked at the clock '7:30, two and a half hours till I can leave'

"Ah, there you are mister Roronoa, thank you for delivering those papers"

Zoro turned to his boss, "Not a problem Robin, it's my job, so what's next?"

Robin looked around her desk "Nothing for now, have a seat"

Zoro quickly obeyed and sat down in a empty seat in her cubicle

"So what's new, getting nervous that Usopp's almost an adult?" Robin asked not even lifting her gaze from her desk, where she was working quickly

"Well, I'm a little nervous, I'm trying to figure out how to save up enough money for this college he wants to go to, so that he doesn't have to have some much debt"

Robin nodded "I see, so anything else?"

Zoro smiled, he knew that she knew that something was up, and she was digging for it "well, I did just meet someone, he seems like a nice guy, he got's a little kid, seems like a decent person, a good friend hopefully"

Robin stopped working and looked at him "Oh, interesting, what about the man's other half, wife?"

"He's divorced from what I can tell"

Robin went back to working "you like him"

Zoro smirked "well he is how would you say, sexy, and I'd like to get to know him better, but I'm too busy" Zoro's smile faded a little "So how are Franky and the kids? Heard my son was over there the other day"

Robin smiled warmly "oh he was such a riot; he was playing with the kids while Franky was checking the bike, and he will make a great dad someday… Franky's dad came to visit for a few days, so there are tools everywhere. He and Franky are working on the boat out back; I figure it's only a matter of days until they call over Franky's brother"

Zoro laughed "Well, I hope he didn't cause too much trouble, so how olds the oldest now?"

"Franky Jr. is 14, a freshman in high school, man they grow up so fast, but that boy is such a rebel, I just wish he'd settle down"

"Well boys will be boys" Zoro commented

"coming from the man with the best behaved kid in the world" Robin replied

Zoro smiled "Yeah, you have a point, you know that he has a girlfriend now?"

Robin's smile grew "Really? Have you met her yet?"

"Not yet, the brat says that he doesn't want her to met such a 'strong personality' yet"

Robin put a hand in front of her mouth a laughed a little "Oh my, well I'm sure she is a good person"

"Yeah, I trust that he would pick someone good" Zoro said with a smile on his face, thinking about Usopp

"So this man that you met, did he want to keep in contact?" Robin asked stacking some papers up

"Yeah, we exchanged numbers, you know for the first hour I met him I didn't even know his name, yet it felt like we had known each other for years" Zoro chuckled

"Those are the makings of a great friendship, or relationship" Robin nonchalantly noted

Zoro let his smile fade "Well, with my luck he won't even be bi, so let's just say Friends"

Robin nodded "As you wish, well it seems that I don't have anything for you to do for the rest of the day, so you can go home early"

Zoro looked to her "you sure?"

Robin looked back and smiled "Go home, get some extra rest"

Zoro nodded "thanks"

"You're welcome"

…

"Oi I'm home early!" Zoro said into the apartment as he closed the door

"Hey, what happened?" Usopp asked from the kitchen

Zoro walked towards the kitchen to find that Usopp was cooking something he couldn't place "Robin gave me the rest of the day off, told me to get some rest, so what are you making for dinner?"

"Oh, hamburgers, there almost done"

"cool, sounds cool, thanks"

"Oh I forgot to tell you-" Usopp started but then the phone started ringing

"Hold that thought" Zoro said moving to the phone, and picked it up, however he didn't recognize the number, and answered with a confused look "Hello?"

_"Hey, um is this Usopp?"_

Zoro looked confused for a moment "Um no, who is this?"

_"Sanji, I'm guessing this is Zoro then"_

Usopp looked on, only hearing half of the conversation, then suddenly a smile spread across his father's face

"Oh, you sound a lot different over the phone"

_"Same, hahaha, anyways, I ran into Usopp earlier and I asked him to babysit for me, I was just calling to give him the address, you don't mind right?"_

Zoro smiled "No of course not, here let me give him the phone" Zoro took the phone away from his ear and handed to Usopp, who was utterly confused "Its Sanji" Zoro said

Usopp suddenly took on a look of understanding "Hey Sanji, yeah just let me grab a piece of paper"

Zoro watched as Usopp went towards his room and came back with a paper and a pen

"Okay go" after a few moments Usopp ripped the paper out and folded it "Okay got it, um okay sure" Usopp handed the phone back to Zoro

Zoro took it, now being the one that was confused "Hey?"

_"Hey, just wondering if you want to hang out some time, since our boys are good friends I figure we might as well get to know each other better"_

Zoro smiled, "Sure, when were you thinking?"

_"Um, how about Friday night? We could go to a bar or something"_

Zoro frowned "Well it sounds great, but I don't have any money"

_"it'll be my treat then, so what do you say?"_

"um sure I guess, this Friday"

_"Cool, I'll call you with the details"_

"Alright, cool"

Zoro hung up and smiled, putting the phone back on the ringer, noticing that Usopp had long since left the room and gone back to the kitchen. Zoro went to the kitchen, with some question in mind. "So when you babysitting Chopper?"

Usopp looked up from where he was flipping hamburgers "Tomorrow and Tuesday, 3 till 7:15ish" Usopp quickly answered "Think you could pick me up from his place?" Usopp asked with a smirk

"Brat" Zoro replied knowing what Usopp was doing "Plus I don't have a day off"

Usopp gave a confused look "I thought you said you had Tuesday off"

Zoro smiled "Nah, I'm going to ask them to switch it to Friday, Sanji wants to get to know each other since you and Chopper are buddies"

"Well he wants to get to know you, that's a start" Usopp noted

"Yeah, you did hear that part where he was married to a chick right" Zoro asked

Usopp nodded "Sure did, but I'm going to point to say something, so listen up"

"Okay" Zoro said looking at Usopp

"My **Father** is talking to me his **biological son** about a crush he has on a guy" Usopp ended his sentence by flipping a patty

"Smartass" Zoro commented "But I guess you have a point"

"Don't lose hope" Usopp said smilingly "Okay, dinner is done, but since your home, you can make your own burger"

Zoro smiled "and just today I was talking to Robin about how nice you are" he chuckled

Usopp simply laughed

…

"So what do you think Chopper? Pretty good stew right?" Sanji asked

Chopper nodded with a mouth full of stew, and quickly swallowed it 'It's really good"

Sanji smiled "that's because you did a good job"

Chopper smiled, but then the smile faded, and Sanji noticed

"Something up buddy?" he asked staring at his son

"Daddy, do you feel like you're missing something from your life?"

Sanji nearly choked on his food at such an intelligent question "um what do you mean?"

"Well mommy said that she feels like something is missing from her life and she has… what did she say it was, she had gotten… oh right she had gotten engaged again, do you feel the need to get engaged again?"

Sanji felt a rush of emotions fly through him all at once; she was getting married again? To whom, he the guy good with kids, why hasn't he met him yet? But for now he had to answer Chopper, only thing is that he couldn't think of a answer "Well Chopper those things are very complicated"

"But don't you want to get engaged again?" Chopper asked not completely understanding what he was talking about

Sanji smiled "Maybe one day, but for now, all I need is my son"

Sanji and Chopper smiled at each other and laughed a little, but Sanji couldn't stop thinking about the question all night long 'do I want to fall in love again? I wonder what her name would be, what color her hair? What tone her skin? Could he have a relationship with someone again after what happened with Nami?'

…

"mmhh! This is good Chopper, you made this?" Usopp smiled at Chopper, he was sitting at the table with him and Chopper had wanted him to try some of the spaghetti and Sanji had made yesterday

"Yeah, with some help from daddy" Chopper beamed

"Well it is really good! Good job buddy!" Usopp said finishing his bowl "So want to hear how I defeated a sea monster, with my legs tied?" Usopp smiled when Chopper jumped up in his seat

"W-w-what, you did that? How, what did it look like?"

Just then Sanji entered the house and went to the kitchen and saw that Chopper was engrossed in a Story Usopp was telling. Sanji quickly made his way to the living room and put the money he owed Usopp into an envelope, and then went back to the kitchen

"And that's how it happened, with just my lucky slingshot and a egg" Usopp finished spotting Sanji

"Wow! So cool!" Chopper shouted

"Hey guys, having fun?" Sanji asked sitting at the table

"Yeah! Usopp was telling me about one of his amazing adventures!"

Sanji slid the envelope over to Usopp "Thank you for watching him the past two days"

Usopp took the money "Not a problem, plus now I have some money to spend"

Sanji smiled "Oh hey, want a ride home?" Sanji asked while getting out of his chair

Usopp tried to hide a smile "Sure, thanks"

"Not a problem" Sanji replied "Come on Chopper go get your coat"

"Okay!" Chopper hopped off the chair and went to the coat rack

…

Zoro flopped onto the couch, kicking off his shoes with his feet; he couldn't believe the day felt so long, just like Monday had felt

"Hey dad, mind moving you face so I can sit down?"

Zoro looked up at his son "Shouldn't you be in bed, you have school tomorrow" Zoro moved so Usopp could sit down

"Yeah, but I needed to talk to you"

Zoro sat up and looked at his son "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, here, take this, to help with my bike" Usopp handed Zoro the envelope

Zoro opened it and took out the money, then chuckled "Nah Usopp, here, take Kaya out on a date with this money" Zoro pushed the money into Usopp's hands

"You sure? I mean the bike is gonna cost a lot"

Zoro nodded "Yeah, but love lasts longer than that bike will, so invest in it, I'll get that bike working"

Usopp smile "thanks, I just feel bad"

"Don't, I'm your dad, this is what I do, now go to bed"

Usopp got up and started off towards his room before turning around "I love you dad"

Zoro smiled "Love you too"

With that usopp went to bed and Zoro was giddy for the rest of the night

…

_"Alright cool, I'm on my way"_

"Wait, how do you know where I live?" Zoro turned to Usopp, who was currently running to his room

_"Oh I dropped Usopp off Tuesday"_

"Oh, ok then, we'll see you soon"

_"Yup"_

Zoro put the phone back on the ringer and went to his Son's room "you did that on purpose didn't you?" Zoro said walking into his son's room, only to find him painting

"What? He offered me a ride, what are you upset about?" Usopp asked smilingly

Zoro sighed "meddlesome little brat" Zoro chuckled out

Usopp laughed too "Just trying to help get my dad laid"

Zoro smiled "Alright, well I'm going to met him outside, good luck on your date"

Usopp gave a salute "Yes sir"

Zoro chuckled and went downstairs.

Zoro waited for about ten minutes until he saw a car pull up and park. Zoro got up and started walking towards it and saw Sanji get out, leaving the car door open

"Ready to go?"

"Yup" Zoro responded "Still your treat right?"

Sanji smiled "Of course"

…

It had been 2 hours and they were already best friends, a special brand of best friends

"Shit cook, don't make fun of my clothes"

"Whatever marimo, I just always see you in a white shirt and whatever that green thing is"

"It's called a haramaki!"

Sanji laughed "I was talking about that thing on your head!"

"It's called hair! At least I don't draw on eyebrows!"

"Oi! What did you say!"

A short silence filled the table between them, the bar was noisy, but they were quiet

"Man, it feels good not to have to kiss everybody's ass" Zoro said after awhile

"Same" Sanji said lightly a cigarette "Want to know what Chopper asked me a few days ago, it shocked the hell out of me"

Zoro got interested "Sure"

"He asked me if I was satisfied with my life, since my ex wife is reengaged, I couldn't believe I was hearing him right" Sanji said taking a drag off of his cigarette and looking away blowing the smoke out

"Wow" Zoro said after the surprise wore off "So?"

Sanji looked back "So what?"

"What'd you say?" Zoro asked not getting his hopes up

"Well I told him that all I needed was him"

Zoro was disappointed, 'oh well' he thought

"But it did get me thinking; maybe I should start dating again, what about you?"

Zoro smiled "This is the only day I have off this month, I got no time for dating, I'd have to move in with them before I could date them"

Sanji smiled "Why are you working two jobs anyways?"

Zoro sighed "debt"

"Debt?"

"And I'm trying to save up some money to help pay for college, at least some of it so that Usopp doesn't end up with so much debt"

Sanji nodded "I see"

"So, Chopper went back to your ex-wife today?"

Sanji nodded "Nami, her name is Nami"

Zoro sat back in his chair "So what happened between you two?"

Sanji sighed "Well, it started when we met; I have always treated all women like princesses, and she started to use me, we moved away and got married, Chopper was four when we moved back here to where we met, and the first thing that happened was that my dad, Zeff, sat me down and gave me a reality check on what she was doing to me, and due to how I treat women, I couldn't see it until he pointed it out, turns out she was just taking all my money, I mean the only things she cared about where our son and her shopping, so we split"

Zoro nodded "Damn, she sounds crazy"

Sanji laughed "Yeah, kind of turns you off of women"

Zoro felt a small flutter in his stomach

"Well dating in general really" Sanji added

The flutter was crushed, and Zoro decided to do something stupid in that moment "Hey, I should probably tell you this, just in case you're freaked out by this kind of thing, I'm bisexual" Zoro took a big swig out of his bottle tilting his head back so that he didn't have to meet Sanji's gaze

"Cool, so what's it like with a guy?" Sanji asked taking a drink from his beer, not missing a beat

Zoro nearly spit the beer out, and coughed, he did not expect that answer "Um, well, it depends" Zoro said still coughing

Sanji set his beer down on the table "Sorry, that was awkward, heheh, It's something that I've wondered about for a few years"

Zoro smiled, turning off his attraction for a few moments

"You ever thought to try it?" Zoro asked looking at the bar "There are a few cute guys over there"

Sanji looked over at them then back to Zoro "Sure I thought about it, but I can't be irresponsible like that, I got a kid"

Zoro nodded "Fair enough, but your free for seven days"

Sanji nodded but then frowned "Okay fair enough, but just because I have thought about it doesn't mean I'm going to sleep a random guy just to find out, I could just ask you"

Zoro smiled "You sure you want to hear about it?"

Sanji nodded "Sure"

(Ten minutes later)

Sanji shuddered "Whoa, that was, depictive"

Zoro laughed a little bit "And?"

Sanji tried to smooth himself out and getting rid of a partial erection he felt "Sexual"

Zoro smiled a knowing smile "Turned you on a little bit didn't it?"

Sanji turned a scowl onto Zoro "Shut it"

"What, that's what usually happens, although I mostly just tell chicks about it, or other gay guys, but you're the first straight guy that I did that to, or should I call you bi curious?" Zoro smiled he was getting to carried away with it

Sanji dropped his head "the story probably just turned me on because I haven't" Sanji quickly covered his mouth

Zoro smiled "what were you about to say?"

Sanji sighed "It's been a few years, since I've had some"

Zoro smiled "don't feel so bad, it's been 14 years for me"

Sanji spit his beer out all over the table and some on Zoro "What!? Holy fuck dude"

Zoro laughed "Well once I got Usopp, I stopped playing around and focused on him, but the time he was four I had to start working more hours and couldn't focus on anything but him and work, it was 6 years until I really had a social life again, but most of my friends are married or straight guys"

Sanji shook his head "That's too long man too long, how old are you anyways?"

"32, I got Usopp when I was 18, which means she was pregnant when I was 17. How old are you?"

"26, I didn't expect you to be so old"

"Gee thanks Sanji"

Sanji smiled "Sorry, but damn, I mean can play boy and a hand really get you through 14 years?"

Zoro laughed "let's not talk about my internet search history"

"But how can that be, I mean you're a handsome man, how can it be so long since you had sex?"

Zoro smiled a little bit "I'm have just been trying to beat those teen parent stereo types, I am trying to be a good dad"

Sanji nodded "Damn, that's brave dude"

Zoro laughed "Hey Sanji?"

Sanji was laughing as well, a lot "Yeah Zoro?" he said still laughing

"I like you" Zoro stopped laughing and looked at Sanji, wondering how everything was going to play out now that he put everything on the table

"Thanks, I like you too" Sanji said lowering his laughter to a low rumble

"No Sanji, I like you"

Sanji stopped laughing and looked at Zoro "Wait what?"

"I have an attraction to your looks and personality" Zoro took a sip on his beer, not tilting his head back

"What a weird way to phrase it" Sanji said tilting his head to the side

"I didn't want you to misunderstand twice"

Sanji smiled "I think you are drunk"

Zoro smiled "I don't get drunk"

"So you're serious?"

Zoro nodded

Sanji sat back in his seat "Oh… does Usopp know that your bi?"

"We talk about everything, he's rooting for us" Zoro said trying to maintain a cool smile and not show how nervous he is

"Ah, I see" Sanji said swirling his beer

"Look, I'm sorry for doing that, but since it is out here, I think we have two choices, I'm willing to forget this ever happened and remain friends, but I also really want a shot to be with you."

Sanji was surprised, to say the least

Zoro knew he just blew his shot, 'what the hell was I thinking, god damn it why did I blurt all this shit out… what the hell am I doing, I don't have time for dating'

"Um, well then, I don't know what to say Zoro"

Zoro stood "yeah, I'm sorry for that, I'll leave, have a good night" Zoro quickly threw a few bills onto the table to pay for his drinks and then left, he figured that he couldn't let Sanji pay after doing that to him

…

Zoro slammed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes and sat onto his couch, he had barely sat down when he felt his legs being restless, and so he started pacing the room. He figured he had been at it for a few hours by the time Usopp walked through the door

"Dad? What's wrong? Why are you back before me?"

Zoro stopped his pacing and turned to Usopp "Hey, how'd your date go?"

"Dad? What is wrong, you look like shit" Usopp asked in worry

Zoro dropped onto the couch "I made a complete idiot of myself" he started laughing "I don't think I know how to ask somebody out anymore"

Usopp tilted his head "Did something happen with Sanji?"

Zoro chuckled "um you could say that"

…

"And then I left" Zoro finished

"Damn" was all Usopp could think to say

"Yeah, kind of blew my shot huh?"

"Well… maybe, but he didn't reject you"

"Yeah but he was in shock, why couldn't I just let us be friends?"

(knock knock knock)

Zoro and Usopp both looked towards the door

"Are you expecting some one over?" Zoro asked

"No, you?"

Zoro shook his head and went to answer the door

"You bastard!" Sanji shouted

Usopp saw Zoro back up a few steps

Sanji walked in and spotted Usopp

"Hey Usopp, I'm going to borrow your dad for a few minutes" and with that Sanji grabbed Zoro by the collar and dragged him all the way back to his car

"You bastard, you can't do that to people!" Sanji said a little bit quieter this time "You can't just drop a bombshell like that then run off!" Sanji began digging into his pocket "And I said it was my treat so don't insult me by paying when we both know you can't afford it!" Sanji said pushing the money back to Zoro, who was currently speechless

An awkward silence filled the void between them before Sanji spoke again

"I have things from my past that might still be chasing me, bad things from a time when I was stupid and fucked up. That's the real reason I haven't been dating, because I wouldn't be able to have a honest relationship, I can't tell you what they are or how they affected me, and I sure as hell don't want to get Usopp or you involved if they should come back, but I do want you to know that I would be willingly to give it a shot, if I could"

Zoro stared at Sanji through the cold night air, and saw the fear in his eyes, the worry, the despair and pain it was causing him, and only wanted to do one thing. To protect Sanji, and make the fear's go away, to make him feel safe.

"You know Sanji, I had a dream, two nights ago, and in my dream, we were living together. Usopp and Chopper were playing outside, you were cooking and I was helping out, then we all sat down for dinner. The dream had such a cozy atmosphere that I didn't want to wake up, but I did, and I went to my two jobs back to back, and talked with my friend who is happily married, and then came home, and talked with my son for five minutes before we both went to sleep, this isn't a confession of love, because, as much as we get along, frankly we barely know each other, so no I'm not sure that I love you, and I'm sure that you don't love me either, but I'm willing to try and have a relationship, and deal with any problem that should appear together… what I'm saying really is that, I'm so damn tired… of being a single dad.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Correction in Zoro's age, it was pointed out, that the time line didn't match up (thank you by the way) so Zoro's age will be 34, not 32

A Devil's Mystery

"So? Something fun happen?" Usopp asked as Zoro came back into the apartment

Zoro didn't know whether to smile, or worry. "Sit down; we need to have a talk"

Usopp sat on the couch, half shocked at Zoro's tone "Something wrong?"

Zoro sat down beside his son, and turned to face him "Um, sort of, and sort of not. Sanji has something in his past that might be coming after him. He thinks that if it, whatever it is, does come for it, that he would be putting me and you in danger, if we were in a relationship. So I wanted to ask you, do you mind if I take this risk?"

"You must really like him" Usopp responded "Most of the time, if you thought you'd be putting me in danger; you would stop and get away from it"

Zoro felt slight shock at the comment, he didn't even realize that himself "Damn kid getting to smart for your own good" Zoro smiled "Well, I want you to take some time to think this over, don't feel like you have to say your okay with it for me, okay bud?"

Usopp nodded "Alright"

Zoro frowned a little "Okay well, I have had a long day, so I'm going to hit the hay, night"

"Night" Usopp responded still sitting, it was a big choice that required some thought.

…

Sanji sighed into his breakfast, his eggs falling back onto his plate as he went to grab the phone; he flipped it open and scanned through a few numbers before he hit the call button

_"Egg plant? What do you need?"_

"Good morning to you too shitty old man" Sanji moved to his back porch sliding the glass door open

_"Whatever, I'm not on a break right now so make it fast"_

"I think I fucked up last night, I kind of said that I wanted to date Zoro, to his face"

_"Patty, Crane, I'm taking a break, so don't burn down my place while I'm gone!"_

Sanji pulled a cigarette out and lit it, taking a few greedy drags off of it

_"What the hell are you thinking eggplant!?"_

"Wow, thought you might be a little bit more surprised to hear that I'm bisexual" Sanji laughed weakly

_"Oh hell, we all knew you played both ways, the only one that didn't know was you! Now, you need to fix this, you know why you can't date. They won't hurt Chopper, but they'll hurt anyone else you know!"_

Sanji let out a shaky breath "I know, I know, but, I can't spend Life, alone, I need Friends and Someone to bond with, romantically, and he said something, something that I really want to fight for"

_"Sanji…"_

"Zeff, just hear me out!"

_"No, you know why you can't have those things, you're a father, you're lucky enough right there!"_

"He wants a family! Me and him, our two boys! A nice house!"

_"Sanji!"_

"God damn it! Zeff, I can't live that life, I fucked my dream up once, but I can make it work this time, I'm not that person anymore!"

_"That doesn't matter to them; you're still that person to them! Anybody you drag into this will get hurt!"_

Sanji hung up his cell phone, and threw it into his yard. Small tears made their way down his face as he went into his room.

…

"OI Usopp, I'm home for my lunch hour, well my first one, you home?" Zoro asked into his apartment

"In my room! Be out in a sec"

Zoro nodded to himself and went to the kitchen and started making himself some lunch

Before long Usopp emerged from his room, paint marks on his arms, and a little bit of black ink on his long nose "Hey, your friend Ace called, he's having a barbeque tonight, wants you to come"

Zoro shot his head around the small wall dividing the kitchen from the living room "What? Ace called?"

Usopp nodded then sat at their small table "Yeah"

Zoro walked to the table with two plates and set one down in front of Usopp and the other for himself

"What are you surprised about? You two are like brothers" Usopp noted as an after thought

"Don't worry about it, so did he say a time and place?"

"Yeah, like I said, his place, around 9 pm"

"Okay, so how's your day so far, making any progress and that painting you've been telling me about?"

Usopp nodded excitedly with a mouth full of food, and then swallowed "Yeah, tons, a few setbacks, but it's finally coming together"

Zoro quickly finished his lunch, and intently listened to his son talk about this master piece he was creating, but, the hour came do an end far too soon and he hand to go

…

Sanji woke up on his bedroom floor, fully dressed. He slowly stood, hearing the steady stream of knocks coming from his front door.

He looked around, he had thrashed his room, and he found his clock "9 pm, fuck I slept the day away"

The knocking got louder

"Okay! I'm coming!" Sanji started off towards his door

…

"Yeah, go ahead, he's at my place" Robin said to Zoro "He needs to talk"

Zoro nodded "Thanks"

…

Sanji exited his room and walked to the living room, the knocking still causing a ruckus

"I said I'm coming!"

…

Zoro pulled into Robin and Franky's drive way, spotting Ace on the patio Smoking a cigar, he gave a wave and started up towards his friend

…

Sanji walked to the door way, laying his hand on the door knob

…

"Hey Zoro, long time no see" Ace smiled

Zoro kept a calm demeanor, but let a small smile creep onto his face "So, I thought you and you brother were locked up in impel down"

…

Sanji turned the knob, slowly creeping the door open, the knocking stopped

…

"Well, we have some unfinished business with some guy, so we broke out" Ace responded

Zoro smiled bigger "So where's Luffy then?"

Ace smiled

...

Sanji's eyes went wide as he stumbled back, tripping and falling onto his back and stared at the man in the straw hat, unable to find his eyes

…

"He's taking care of it" Ace winked at Zoro

TBC

Okay, and there's a cliff hanger… I am going to start writing the next chapter after this is posted so don't fear, just because school starts tomorrow doesn't mean I won't be updating!

Wow this story took a turn down a street I didn't expect… this should be fun, hope you liked it! Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

As Luck Would Have it

Zoro laughed light heartedly "So, what's the job?"

Ace shifted his footing "Well we are protecting somebody, we got hired to protect someone, and eliminate their 'hunters'"

Zoro nodded "The good ol' days from my teens. Are you two ever going to get out of it? I mean, you've been sent to prison for it already"

Ace chuckled "Look, you had a son, and went legit, but, we like the work, we help people, illegally, and violently, but we can follow our codes of justice this way"

…

"Jesus fucking Christ Luffy! What the hell did I do?!" Sanji yelled angrily while standing up

"Shishishi, I hungry, I always look grim when I'm hungry"

"Wait! Weren't you in jail! How the hell did you find me? Why are you here?"

Luffy's stomach grumbled loudly "Sanji, can you cook me meat?" Luffy looked up with pleading eyes

Sanji gave a look with dark eyes and smacked Luffy on the head "You somehow get out of jail, track me down, and scare the shit out of me, then ask for food!"

Luffy nodded with a pout "Please?"

Sanji sighed "Fine, go wait at the table"

…

Zoro and Ace were now seated at a table in a nearby bar, Zoro took a chug from his beer and then set it down, wiping his mouth as he did so, "So, are you able to disclose who you're defending or from who?"

Ace smiled "Yeah I can" Ace let his smile fade "But I don't know if you want to know"

Zoro let a quizzical look pass his face "Well that's new, so who is it?"

Ace Frowned "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Well is it someone I know?"

"Not well"

Zoro paused for a moment "Yeah tell me"

"It's a sexy man" Ace started "likes to smoke, has shiny blond hair, and cute curled eyebrows too"

Zoro paled "Sanji?"

"Don't act so surprised, he told you he had problems in his past" Ace smiled

"How the hell did you- did you bug me?" a dark expression crossed Zoro's face

Ace sighed into his beer

"Did you bug me?!"

"Look, he skipped town a few years back, we were protecting him, but we got caught and lost contact, then when Franky came to see me and Luffy in jail, he said that you had met someone, the description matched, so we had a lead, it's not something I wanted to do, but I had to"

Zoro stood, kicking the table "I can't believe you'd do that to me!"

"It was just to find him, we are protecting him!"

Zoro started pacing back and forth, slowly drawing attention "Why couldn't you just ask me, If I knew him?!"

Ace looked at some of the other patrons of the bar, that were staring at them "Let's get some air" he said dragging Zoro out of the bathe exited the bar and went into the back alley Ace turned around and put his arms on Zoro's shoulders "Look, you were my best friend, but my 2 years in jail, you didn't come and talked to me, so excuse me if I didn't just walk up to your place and say hi, did you meet any blonds lately! I mean do you even know what it felt like, having my best friend leave me alone, in a cell? So don't act like I owe you anything, I'm just doing my job!"

Zoro took a few steps back "I have a kid! And two jobs! What time do I have?" For a moment they just stared each other down, before something clicked in Zoro's mind "Why did you invite me out tonight?"

Ace turned away

"Oi don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you, is this a part of your job to?"

Ace kept walking

"God damn it Ace! Tell me!"

Ace stopped and turned around, reveling a tear that was rolling down his cheek, even in the dark light, Zoro could spot the shine it gave off

"I brought you out here for a beer, I thought we might be able to skip the argument, but neither of us are able to talk about our problems right now, so I'm going to walk away, and we are both going to go home, Franky knows how to get a hold of me, call me when you're ready to talk" with that Ace walked away, but stopped and turned one last time "Be careful Zoro, you may be out of the job, but people remember the demon"

…

Zoro stomped away, he hated fighting with Ace, he always would pull the calm down card! So fucking annoying! Before he realized it, he was putting his key into the lock and entering the apartment

"Welcome back dad, have a nice time out with Ace?" Usopp called from his room

"Yeah, it went well" Zoro answered going to his fridge, only to find that he didn't have beer 'that's right, I stopped buying it"

"So" Usopp walked out of his room "I've come to a decision about you and Sanji'

Zoro looked at his son, closing the fridge, suddenly in a better mood, just at the thought, but it was quickly over ridden by what Ace had done "And?" Zoro asked with bland eyes

"I am fine with it"

Zoro put on a thin smile and nodded "Thanks Usopp" Zoro said rubbing Usopp's messing hair ashe walked past him

…

(knock knock)

Luffy looked up from his pile of meat, and quickly swallowed what was in his mouth "That's Ace"

Sanji nodded and walked to the door, opening it "Hey Ace, come on in, there's still some food"

Ace smiled widely "thanks, I love your cooking"

"Thanks" Sanji replied pulling out a cigarette "So why are you two back?"

Ace and Luffy looked at each other, with Ace swallowing to answer

"They are back, and in return, so are we, we are here to keep them out of your life, and your family's, however there's only two of us, so we can't protect your friends, so it's best if you only communicate with them through a third party, or better yet, not at all"

Sanji hung his head and took a long drag off his smoke "Are they in the city yet? I mean do I have time to say bye to my friends?"

Luffy shook his head "They are here, but as far as we can tell, they haven't found you yet, I wouldn't suggest it."

Sanji nodded with empty eyes "Figures they'd come back to ruin my happiness, what about my son?

Ace grimaced "It might be best if you don't see him anymore, he is family but they could trace him back to Nami and attack innocent people"

Sanji slammed his foot down and stood "that's ridiculous, he's my son!"

Luffy stood as well, but in a calm manner "We understand, you will be able to visit, but not often and not for long, a day at the most, he can't come here"

"How am I going to explain this to Nami?! I don't want to lose my son over this!" Sanji rubbed his empty hand through his hair

Luffy went around the table with his hands up trying to calm Sanji down "Sanji, I'm sorry about your situation, but we have to do our jobs if you don't want to lose him forever, it won't take longer than a few months at most"

Sanji kicked a chair, and the now standing Ace quickly caught it before it broke against a wall "It's not easy for anybody in your situation, please let us do our job, you have to explain that the mother will have to have full custody for a few months"

Sanji began stomping around the house muttering obscenities before he finally calmed down and stood in front of the two men "Okay, I'll tell her tomorrow" he said through gritted teeth, pain traced across his eyes

…

Zoro leaned against his son's door, and listened carefully. Before long he picked up the snoring and nodded to himself before he went to his own room and dug out a case from his closet, one that had the dust of 17 years on it.

He brought it out to the table, along with a few oil's and rags, and opened it up, revealing three swords, with not a speck of dust on them. "Thank god for air tight cases" Zoro mumbled to himself and reached for the first one, a shinning white one.

Soon enough he was standing on one foot, holding all three swords, uncased and extended to the fullest in the small apartment, he began to move silently, trying to recover what he had lost in those years, and it soon came back to his muscle memory

…

Three men sat at a table in the almost pitch black room, two with their feet kicked up onto the table, and one, bigger than the rest, with his feet down

"We found him 'boss'" the last word rolled out of the man's voice with a heavy layer of spite and sarcasm

"The blond?" the man with his feet down asked

"Yeah, the D. brothers busted out and are protecting him" the other man said, putting the underfoot on top

"Good, I'll inform the police of their location"

"Oh and 'Boss' there's something else you might want to know" the first man said, the sarcasm spilling again

The bigger man raised an eyebrow, barely noticeable to the other two "And what is that?"

"The Demon is here, in this town, the D brothers left a trace right to him"

The bigger man smiled "Well, that sounds like a problem for you, not me, after all" the man stood "He never attacked the Law"

TBC

Okay guys, sorry it took me so long, I just couldn't get the juices flowing for awhile, but here you go, sorry there getting short, but I think that might just be how it is for now.


	5. Chapter 5

Wine, Smokes, and Loving Fathers

"Nami calm down please!" Sanji said through gritted teeth, trying very hard not to bark at her

_"Calm down? Are you fucking kidding me? You call me up and say that you can't spend time with your son for a few months! And you don't even give me a reason why? Are you back into your old shit again?"_

Sanji inaudibly sighed "Look, I can visit him at your4 place, but he can't come over to my place"

_"Fucking hell Sanji, do you know what that's going to do to him? Maybe I should have fought harder for full custody!"_

Suddenly Nami stopped yelling, and starting to breathe a little calmer _"Sanji, I can't think of one good reason why you need this time, so unless you give me one GOOD reason, I'm filing for full custody"_

Sanji looked over to Ace and Luffy who were listening to the conversation with their headphones on. He thought back to their conversation about five minutes before the phone call

_Flash back_

_"Okay, I'm going to call her now" Sanji picked up his phone, only to have Ace's hand cover it_

_"Hold on Sanji, there's one more thing we need to tell you"_

_"Okay what is it?" Sanji asked looking back and forth between Luffy and Ace_

_Ace looked to Luffy, who nodded, and fixed a stern look onto Sanji_

_"Under no circumstances can you tell her why you can't do the weekly switch offs"_

_Sanji stared blankly at the two of them "Why the hell not? She knows about my situation, it wouldn't in danger her, so why not?"_

_This time Ace took the lead "this is a cold zero case, which means that no one outside of this house is trusted, one exception has been made for Zeff however, sense he's your boss, father, and also a protector"_

_Sanji felt a small ball form in his throat 'fuck'_

_End flash back_

Ace shook his head in a 'no' manner

Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes hard in a attempt to hold back the tears "Nami, please, don't do that"

_"then give me a reason"_

"I cant"

_"Nice to know what you give up your son for, dead beat"_

With that the line went dead. Sanji slowly took the phone away from his ear, not truly believing what he heard.

Luffy took his head phones off, and looked at Sanji with concerned eyes "Sanji, are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Sanji asked looking at Luffy with surprised eyes. "You heard her… I'm a dead beat now, thanks to this. I lost my son, I can't talk to my friends, and my only company for the next few months is going to be assassins trying to kill me! So yeah, I'm fucking peachy!" Sanji threw his phone on the ground with such force that it shattered into 7 pieces. Sanji walked to his back door, throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind him. He quickly pulled out his pack and lighter and lit up. He slowly let the tears fall, but they soon picked of speed and frequency, and before long he was sobbing on the floor.

…

"Tell me what you know, NOW!" Zoro growled as he threw a mugger against a dark alley way.

Zoro's face was concealed by his bandana and the night time darkness in general

"I swear I don't know anything!"

"Bull shit!" Zoro flicked one of his swords partially out, letting the blade shine in the dark light

"Wait, wait, fine, I'll tell you!"

Zoro smiled

"I heard, that some big time gangsters came to town, I heard they were setting up a branch in this city… that's all I know, I swear!"

Zoro pressed his forearm into the man's throat, and looked into his eye's searching them. "What are their names?"

The man was coughing, and attempted a few times to speak, before Zoro released him enough so he could talk "I don't know, but I think they run with the shichibukai."

Zoro growled again, and released the man fully, who quickly fled 'Damn it, this could go bad fast' Zoro thought to himself while walking down the alley, trying not to worry about what could happen, his next stop would not be a fun one.

…

"Fuck! Luffy get over here!" Ace yelled from his laptop "Jinbe just sent me something"

Sanji put a cigarette out and pulled out another "whose Jinbe?" he asked in a dark uninterested tone

"A inside source from the shichibukai"

Sanji nodded in understanding, he remembered them.

"What is it?" Luffy asked walking in and leaning over his brother's shoulder

Ace clicked a few times until he pulled up the email

"Fuck" Luffy slightly paled

Sanji looked at them from his sitting place, which was in the on his back porch "what is it?"

"One of the seven main shichibukai just got orders to kill you, there paying him 77 million to kill you"

Sanji slightly smiled "wow, how nice" the words flowing in a morbid fashion, showing his true disinterest

Ace slightly glared, but didn't voice his opinion, how could he?

…

Zoro briefly paused on the footsteps, wondering if the risk was worth it, he did have a son after all. But he came to his decision and walked the rest of the way up the mansions pathway, and rang the door bell.

Before long he heard footsteps, and the door soon opened

"Well well, this is unexpected, the demon himself at my door in the middle of the night… is there something I can do for you Mr. Roronoa, or have you come back for a rematch?" Mihawk spared a glance at the swords hanging from Zoro's hip as he took a sip of wine.

"I'm not here for a fight"

Mihawk raised a eyebrow "then what is it?"

"I'm here for information about the workings of the shichibukai"

"And what makes you think I'll say anything?"

"Two things make me think that" Zoro said putting a hand on his sword, resting it there "As a fellow swordsman, and family man, you would also be asking for help if our places in this affair were switched, and" Zoro reached into his large pants pocket and pulled out a rare wine "I brought payment"

Mihawk let a small bit of mirth pass through him at the gesture "Well come in then, I'll get the decanter"

…

"So who is it?" Luffy asked

"I'm not sure, he didn't say" Ace responded

"Well ask him!"

"I can't just email him! I have to wait for him to send a okay! Don't you remember the deal?"

Luffy shook his head

"Dumbass, go check on Sanji" Ace shooed Luffy away with one hand while watching his email, making sure he didn't miss the next email

Luffy shrugged, and went in search of Sanji, after noticing that he was no longer chain smoking on the porch. Luffy stumbled around the house for a few minutes before he found Sanji in his room, more specifically in his closet, with a open box on the floor.

"What are you looking at Sanji?"

Sanji looked up a Luffy and back down at the pictures in his hand "Just some old photos"

"oh?" Luffy sat down by Sanji and took the offered picture

"that one is the day Chopper was born"

"You and Nami look really happy" Luffy commented

Sanji looked back into his box with a sad smile on his face "We were blissful"

Luffy handed the picture back, and took a photo book out and flipped through it, slowly, looking at the pictures of Chopper growing up. "What happened between you two?"

Sanji stopped Luffy from turning the page, and grabbed a picture that showed Chopper's first day of school, and Nami hugging the little boy. "When I got my own restaurant, she started using me for my money, we quickly fell out of love, and spent a year of bitter marriage before we divorced, and this is the last picture we had as a family before everything went south"

Luffy nodded "I see."

Sanji looked at his friend "Do you believe me?"

"I do believe that she used you for your money, but I don't think that's why you the two of you fell out of love"

"heh, she fell in love with money, what more is there to the story"

Luffy leaned back, supporting himself with his hands, and looked to the ceiling "I'm not here to tell you about you marriage, but I'm sure that if you look back on the talks you had, you'll find something new, something hidden from you by you"

Luffy stood and left the room, leaving Sanji confused with an open book of pictures of Chopper and Nami in his hand.

…

"That's all you came here for? I thought this had something to do with your boy" Mihawk poured some more of the wine into his cup and sat back in his chair.

"It does have to do with family; I want him and his boy to be part of my family, along with me and my son"

"Ah I see, young love" Mihawk gave a small smirk "Well then I guess I could tell you, you can ask until this bottle of wine is gone"

Zoro smiled "Okay, what they know about him so far?"

"*takes a sip* name, address, new fake last name, son, ex wife, father, most of his friends, including you, name of his restaurant, at who's defending him *sip*"

"Fuck… what is the shichibukai's current plan to take him out?"

Mihawk took a long sip and did not answer

Zoro stared at him before it sunk in "Who's using the shichibukai?"

Mihawk smiled and refilled his glass

…

"Luffy, he emailed me again"

Luffy looked up at Ace "Who is it?"

"Come look" Ace turned the monitor towards Luffy

…

"Really?" Zoro asked surprised

"Yes *sip*"

"Okay, who did he hire to kill Sanji?"

Mihawk put one leg over the other "He is paying me 77 million to kill him"

"Fuck"

Mihawk smiled and took another sip of wine

"When are you going to strike?"

"If I tell you, I'll have to change it, or I'll end up having to kill you, and leave your son without anyone to turn too."

"Mihawk, you can't do this! You'd being killing a father!"

"Just because I'm a father doesn't mean I have qualms in killing fathers"

TBC

A/N okay so im ending this one here cause I have too many ideas of where I want it to go next, so I'll sort those out then post up another chapter, hope you enjoyed, sorry about any mistakes, school has me a little brain fried.


	6. Chapter 6

Play Grounds for Grown-ups

"Damn this city! Damn this life! Why can't they get over it already, I'm gone, let me be gone" Sanji semi shouted

Ace and Luffy looked up from the laptop and noticed that Sanji had read it and was now pacing, his hands nearing his smokes and lighter

"Oi, don't worry Sanji, we won't let him get you" Luffy tried

Sanji threw a sideways glance at the young man and laughed "Of course not!" he said in fake joy "there's no way a man who can deflect bullets with a fucking sword, and slice things up to 200 feet away from the tip of his blade could get through two guys. I have nothing to worry about!" having shouted the last few words, Sanji dropped, and crossed his legs, puffing a few times on his cigarette, he threw his head into his hands, dodging his cigarette, and tried to hold back tears "am I even going to see my son before I die?" he asked out to no one

Ace and Luffy looked at each other concerned, before moving to comfort Sanji, who, with little resistance, accepted it

…

"I've been telling you for years that I'm not the same person I was Zoro, I will kill you this time" Mihawk sat back in his chair, looking away from the glare Zoro was giving him

"Just spare this one! You've token the others from me!"

Mihawk glared back at the statement "They died by their choice, don't take it personally, they abandoned you to fight me!"

Zoro growled without a conscious thought about doing so "How can you say that! You sell out! You attacked our dojo for a sword! And they defended it! Don't make it out to be in your favor!"

"They made the choice to defend!" Mihawk smiled "at least they were successful" he shot a glare at the white sword

Zoro slammed his hand on the table and rose out of his seat "You've become a disgrace to the way of the sword!"

Mihawk only displayed a neutral face, and drank the last of the wine

Zoro, seeing that the bottle was empty made his way out of the mansion

"I will kill you if you stand in my way Zoro" Mihawk called after him

Zoro didn't look back and simply exited the house

…

Sanji turned to the door in slight terror as he heard a light knocking

Ace leaped off the couch, and walked towards the door carefully, turning around the some wall into the little receiving area, Luffy not more than ten steps behind him

Ace peeped through the door hole, then stepped back confused, he put his hand on the door, and pressed against it "Zoro, why the hell are you here!?" he shouted through the door

"Just let me in, I talked to Mihawk, I have information!"

Sanji looked at the door, and then at Luffy, who was on the other side of Ace "Wait, Zoro is in on this shit, what the hell is going on?"

"I can't let you in Zoro, just go home" Ace yelled back

"I'm not leaving!" Zoro stubbornly shouted back

Suddenly Luffy piped up "You have a son Zoro, don't get yourself involved, think of him"

For a beat, there seemed to be only a dead silence

"I already am, these people you're dealing with don't forget a name" Zoro said in certainty

"You're telling me" Sanji said sarcastically "Just let him in"

Ace nodded his head, then opened the door, letting in Zoro from the cold night air

Luffy watched from the side lines while Zoro and Sanji connected eyes, saying so much with no words, he briefly wondered if they knew they could do that

"Hi" Zoro said to Sanji

"Hi" Sanji responded not quite sure what to do

"Hi" Ace slightly glared at Zoro

"Hi" Zoro said in a flatter tone

A few moments passed, before Ace spoke up

"So, you said you had information?"

"Right, so what do you know already?" Zoro asked

Ace walked over to the couch and sat down "Take a seat, what we know so far is that the Shichibukai is paying Mihawk 77 million to kill Sanji"

Zoro sat down on a arm chair, Luffy on the couch next to Ace, and Sanji on a arm chair across from Zoro

"Nice to know your informant is still reliable"

Ace smiled "So what do you know that we don't"

"they know everything about him, where he is, and who's protecting him, aka you, not only that, but the Shichibukai, are being used by someone much much higher on the chain"

Luffy cocked his head to his side "Who's is that?"

Ace looked over to see Sanji with his head in his lap, then turned back to hear the answer

"Akainu, the 'admiral'"

Sanji's head flew up, with a look of shock on his face "Is-is-, I thought he was a member of law enforcement!"

Ace let his head slide a little lower on his hands "No, that bastard has been dirty for years"

Luffy, looked over to his brother "Ace, are you-"

Ace stood up shouting profanities, and started pacing violently out of the room

"Shit, Ace" Luffy jumped over the edge of the couch and walked after his brother

Zoro looked after Ace and Luffy with subtle comprehension

"What the hell? Too much is happening right now, what is wrong with Ace?"

Zoro looked to Sanji, and dipped his head a little "a long time ago, back in our youth, we were all in this business, had a whole crew to, and we were on a job, when Ace fell in love. The only problem was his lover was a cop, and Akainu, who was the head of the precinct found out, and held it over Ace for years, then one day, Akainu shot Ace's lover, and delivered the body to their house, cold mother fucker"

Sanji took it all in, not sure himself how much was sticking "What was his name?"

"Smoker, he was 12 years, 2 months, 5 days, and 6 hours older than me" Ace said from the doorway

Sanji saw the tear stains on Ace's cheeks "I'm so sorry" Sanji gasped out, the emotion he saw was so powerful he could just cry for Ace right there.

Ace shook his head "Anyways, is that all you have?"

"Yeah" Zoro replied and looked at Sanji

Luffy, upon entering, spied the look between the two "do you two want some privacy?"

Sanji chuckled a little "I'm still so confused about all of this, and still sort of in shock, do you mind if we have this talk some other time Zoro?" Sanji met the gaze and scratched the back of his head

Zoro nodded "Yeah, not a problem, guess I should be going, keep safe"

"I'll walk you out" Ace began to walk towards the door, Zoro following, they went through the front door onto the front patio

Zoro put his hand on Ace's shoulder, turning him to face him. Not even a second later Ace had his head on Zoro's shoulder and was hugging him, small sobs escaping from his form.

Zoro rubbed Ace's back gently with one hand while the other was rested on Ace's head

"Your stronger than this, Ace, remember that, he told you that, and he meant it"

Zoro felt Ace's arms tighten, before slowly releasing

"Right, I know, I know" he said while wiping his tears away "Go take care of your son, its already early morning"

Zoro nodded and left

…

"You look tired, we can take care of your questions tomorrow, go get some rest" Luffy said to Sanji

Sanji uncurled himself off of the armchair and nodded his head in compliance "Sounds good"

Sanji made his way up to his bedroom, and fell onto his bed, and began thinking about his and Luffy's conversation

_Flash back_

_"Sanji, honey you're early, close the restaurant early?" Nami asked while holding a baby chopper_

_"Yeah, couldn't stand not being around him, or you" Sanji kissed Nami, then Chopper_

_"Oh, hey, we need to go to the store, we are out of formula, and eggs"_

_"Alright, just let me change out of my work clothes"_

_End of flashback_

Sanji rolled over in bed 'how could have things been so perfect, and still gone to hell?'

It seems sleep would not come to easily


End file.
